News Flash... The Langley Clan is now serving with Far Reaching Ministries

It's been a couple of months since I last wrote. We've been very busy with furlough - visiting churches and supporters, visiting family and friends, working at the missions office, taking care of paperwork, etc. - that I haven't yet taken time to let you all know about some news we have to report.

If you've partnered with us in the ministry in Tanzania in the past, then you should have already received a letter explaining some recent changes. For everyone else, we thought the blog would be a good place to get the word out.

Rather than restating things I've already written, I'll paste a copy of what was sent to our partners last month...

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!

We pray this letter finds you well and blessed, and victorious in Christ. We pray that if there be any trial or difficulty you’re presently enduring it will drive you closer to Jesus and serve as an opportunity for His strength to be shown in your weakness.

We are writing this special update to inform you of some recent changes taking place in the ‘behind-the-scenes’ aspect of the ministry we’re doing. To date, all of our administrative, financial, and logistical tasks have been handled by Saving Grace World Missions (SGWM). Whether you have supported the ministry once, or on multiple occasions, or maybe you’ve given regularly via check or automatic withdrawal, you have typically done so through SGWM. All of our monthly updates and weekly prayer requests have gone through SGWM as well.

From this point forward, we will be working with a missions organization called Far Reaching Ministries (FRM). They will be sending out our updates and prayer requests, as well as handling our finances and other logistical needs.
The reason for this change is simple. Because FRM is well established in East Africa - having many missionaries and teams working there for many years - they are better equipped to assist us in fulfilling the vision God has given us for ministry there. The staff and ministers at our original sending agency, Saving Grace World Missions (SGWM), are dear friends of ours. We have known them for years and even attended Bible College with several of them many years ago. We will remain good friends and continue to work in partnership with them. SGWM and FRM have been close friends and co-laborers in the Gospel for many years now, so this change-over should be very smooth.

If you have financially supported us in the past and plan to continue this support, we ask that you take the following steps to insure a smooth transition from one agency to the other:

Those who give at will - Beginning in March, you will receive our monthly newsletter from FRM along with the general FRM update and a return envelope. You can begin to use this FRM envelope for any future support and disregard the envelope from SGWM. You may continue to receive updates and mailings from SGWM on our behalf for some time. We apologize for the duplication and ask for your patience during the time of transition.

Those who give via automatic monthly withdrawal - please use the envelope and resonse card included with our update to establish your automatic monthly withdrawal through FRM. Once completed and mailed, you can call SGWM at (714) 993-4801 and request that they discontinue the automatic monthly withdrawal from your account. They are aware of this change.

We realize that you have responsibilities and activities in life that probably keep you pretty busy and we humbly thank you in advance for patiently working with us to make this transition smooth. If you have any questions or concerns at all, please don’t hesitate to email or call us - (619) 377-0567.

May the Lord continue to bless the work that He is accomplishing through us all as we each play the role He as assigned by His grace to each of us.

In Christ,
Jon & Carrie Langley

So that was a copy of the letter we sent out. If you have not received an update in the mail from FRM by now, please let us know right away so we can correct your address or add you to the list.

Again, if you have any questions whatsoever please don't hesitate to use this blog, to email, or to call us. We love to hear from you.

March 2008 Update

Greetings from the U.S.A. We arrived in time to spend Christmas with our family which was a real blessing, especially for the kids and their grandparents! While we are thankful to have had the time with family and for the opportunity to share with supporters and others this month, we are very much looking forward to getting back home to Kigoma in early March and getting our hand back to the plow. We have so much we're looking forward to the Lord doing this year and are excited to get back to it.

In February we had the opportunity to visit some churches and individuals to share about what the Lord is doing in Kigoma. It’s been exciting to see those who are partners with us in the ministry as well as those who are just meeting us for the first time. Sharing about the ministry in Kigoma has helped us to focus in on what the Lord wants us to continue in and what new things He has in store for us. We’d like to share some of that vision with you in this update.

Calvary Chapel Kigoma - We will continue to work with our small fellowship of believers in Kigoma, to strengthen them in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will do this through the systematic teaching of God’s Word for the entire body, starting a children’s ministry to minister to the needs of the many children, and bolstering the existing women’s ministry to include more Bible Study and growth opportunities.

The Body of CC Kigoma w/ the Building in the Background

The Bible College - Jon will continue to teach the Word of God at the Bible College in Kigoma. This is a tremendous opportunity to reach men and women from many different tribes, villages, and denominations, in order to build them up in the Word of God and encourage them in their faith and ministry to the Lord. Most of them have very little to zero education in the Bible and ministry, and most of them have only a partial primary school education. For them it is a dream-come-true to be able to attend Bible College and learn more about their saviour and His message. For us it is a dream-come-true to be used to accomplish this.

A Bible College Student Taking His Genesis Final Exam - Fall 2007

Rabuna Fi - “Rabuna Fi” means “God is here” in Arabic. It’s a women’s ministry program developed by Far Reaching Ministries and related Calvary Chapel church plants in East Africa. It has been very successful in Southern Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya, and we’d like to implement it at Calvary Chapel Kigoma as well. You can read more about it at www.rabunafi.org. In a nutshell, it involves three meetings per week whereby the women come together for Bible Study and discipleship, followed by a time of working on income-generating projects - clothes, jewelry, and the like - that are then taken to the U.S. for fundraising. The income generated helps to meet the physical needs of these women and their families, many of which are amongst the poorest in the Kigoma area.

Women from CC Kigoma Working On Various Income Generating Projects

Kigoma Youth Outreach - We would like to meet the needs of the youth in Kigoma as a whole. We plan to do this by beginning a monthly youth outreach open to the entire community. This will allow for evangelism and a healthy and safe place for the youth to have fun. We would eventually like to have a full time youth center available to the youth of Kigoma where they can come for discipleship, mentoring and counseling. The youth center will also provide the opportunity for evangelism, Youth Bible Studies, games, and organized sports. The youth of Kigoma are mentally, emotionally, and spiritually neglected, and we can help to point them to Christ and stir up the gifts of the Spirit within them. We can also reach the next generation of youth by teaching the “Religious Education” class in one or more of the public schools. Through these two vital ministries we can infuse the society and culture with the love and truth of God’s Word and raise up the next generation to love and honor their creator, Jesus Christ, and live for and by Him.

Burega Primary School, near our home

PLEASE PRAY...
- Please pray for the Lord to continue to do His work and will in Kigoma and to allow us to be some of the vessels He uses to do it. To Him be the glory, great things He has done!
- Please pray for peace in neighboring Kenya.
- Please pray for the Lord’s provision for our flights back to Tanzania, our monthly expenses, and the ministry expenses involved in getting the youth ministry started.
- Please pray for the Lord to send us a local man to not only translate, but be Jon’s “right hand man” for ministry and administrative tasks.
- Please pray for the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into the harvest field in Kigoma to labor alongside us - both short-term and long-term.
- Please pray for our family and friends who are concerned about us as we are living in East Africa, specifically those who don’t know Christ and His peace. Pray they would give their lives and hearts to Him and know the peace that passes all understanding.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND PRAYER!

Jan-Feb 2008 Speaking Schedule

I just wanted to let everyone know we're alive and well. We haven't blogged in a while because we've been so busy visiting family and taking care of "furlough stuff". Anyhow, I know the dates of a few speaking engagements coming up and several people have asked so I thought I'd post them here.

Wednesday, January 16th, 7pm - Harvest Christian Fellowship, 12150 Woodside Ave, Lakeside, CA, 92040, www.harvestlakeside.com

Sunday, January 20th, 10am - New Wine Church, 1425 Brookhurst, Fullerton, CA 92665, www.newwinechurchweb.com

Sunday, January 20th, 6pm - The Harbor Church, 25401 Western Ave, Lomita, CA, 90717, www.theharborchurch.org

Sunday, February 3rd, 10am - Calvary Chapel Julian, 4367 Highway 78 at Wynola Road, Julian, CA, www.calvarychapel.com/julian

Sunday, February 10th, 9:30am - Calvary Chapel Lakeside, 9839 River Street, Lakeside, CA, 92040, www.cclakeside.com

Wednesday, February 13th, 8am - Calvary Chapel Bible College, 39407 Murrieta Hot Springs Rd., Murrieta, CA, 92563, www.calvarychapelbiblecollege.com

Wednesday, February 20th, 7pm - Calvary Chapel Santee, 10920 Summit Ave., Santee, CA, 92071, www.calvarychapel.com/santee

If you'd like us to come to your fellowship just let us know right away so we can schedule it.

Does God Celebrate Christmas?

I was thinking about something earlier today...

For those who manage to keep their minds and hearts set on Christ in the midst of all the paganism and materialism, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ, the Messiah, our Savior.

The thought crossed my mind earlier today about celebrating this "birthday" from the perspective of God the Father. Does He celebrate the day that His one and only Son gave up His rightful place in Heaven to take on the form of a man? Does He celebrate the day that marked the beginning of Christ's humiliation, suffering, and death? If I was sending my one and only son into battle in the middle east, with the full and sure knowledge that he would be captured, mocked, spat on, tortured, beaten, and illegally murdered, WOULD I CELEBRATE THE DAY HE LEFT FOR HIS SERVICE?

I am confident that God celebrates the results of what Christ accomplished, just as I would be thankful for the accomplishments of a faithful soldier-son, killed in battle. But would I celebrate the day I sent him off to his death?

Just a thought.

I will continue to celebrate the ENORMOUS SACRIFICE that Christ made in the incarnation - not annually, but daily. But I will celebrate it somberly at times, trying to put myself into the mind of God the Father - the One who sent His Son to His Death the very day He was born.

Home for the Holidays

We are currently staying with family in the San Diego area. We just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe and we did get our luggage back eventually. We'll be visiting with family through the end of December. Then, in January, we'll be visiting churches to share about the ministry in Kigoma before getting things together for our return home. I'll post our speaking schedule soon in case you'd like to come and see us. So far we're doing two Sunday mornings, one Sunday night, and two Wednesday nights. May God richly bless you with every spiritual blessing during this season of remembering Christ's birth.

December 2007 Update

A Cow's Feeding Trough...

December is a time when we focus our thoughts on remembering the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. When we lived in America I always struggled with the emphasis on commercialism and obligatory gift giving during this time of the year. I love giving gifts, whether it's December or June, but I think any honest person will admit that 90% or more of Americans are 90% or more focused on the bundles of goods under the tree rather than the bundle of Good in the manger. Now please don't read this as an excuse to be a Grinch and hold back on gifts to those you love, because giving from the heart is a truly beautiful thing. But what I'm really trying to communicate is a word of encouragement and remembrance to everyone who reads our updates regarding the true beauty of Christmas.

The older I get and the more time I spend getting to know the Word of God and the God of the Word, the more I long for humility. I wish that I could humbly say that I had it... but I don't. That's why Christmas is so beautiful; because humility is so beautiful. And the humility of our Saviour is so powerfully evident when we consider His birth.

If you read the Nativity Story from the Gospel of Luke or the other Gospels, and then think through what was really happening, it is truly amazing and humbling. Meditate for a moment with me. Imagine that the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth was going to send His One and Only Son to the earth. Why would He choose to do so through a human birth!? That's so messy and complicated compared to other methods available to Him (which are infinite). Why would He choose a poor, young, working-class girl instead of a rich and powerful queen or empress? Why would He choose a girl from Nazareth in Galilee - a very poor village in an ill-regarded region of Israel - instead of a woman from a big city like Jerusalem in Judah? Why wouldn't He send throngs of Angels ahead of Mary to the Inn in Bethlehem to clear the Inn of all sinners and saints alike, making a place for His Son to be born in the best room at the best Inn available? Instead, the Inn was full and God looked on as the poor, young, unwed, working-class girl, from a poor village in an ill-regarded region of Israel, was escorted by her husband-to-be from the entrance of the small Inn to the stable area outside. Instead, the Father looked on as Mary settled into a bed of straw like one of the animals and began to push and cry in the pangs of childbirth until finally the Son of God came forth from her womb, bloody and wet and cold and in need of His mother's breast for warmth and nourishment. Instead, God looked on as His Only Son was wrapped in simple swaddling clothes and laid in the trough from which the cows ate their food. It doesn't get any more humble than that!

There is a beauty here that I fear I cannot express with words in this short letter (or any length of letter for that matter). I could write an entire book trying to accurately express and appreciate the beauty of Christ's humility - from Heaven, to the birth in a cow's feeding trough, through His life and earthly ministry, to His willing submission to the death on the cross, to His heavenly ministry now. But truly, that Book has already been written - the Bible. I've come to understand that a truly humble person is not one whose life is defined as one of humility. Rather, the qualities and characteristics of their life's actions are themselves the very definition of humility. If you read in the Bible about Christ - from His pre-incarnate state to His birth, life, death, and resurrection - you will read the very definition of pure and true humility. And one of the outstanding characteristics of that life was its beginning... "the first Christmas".

The reason for Christ's humility is also evident from reading the Bible. It is as one of my favorite songs phrases it, "the Kingdom in reverse". The King became the servant. The first became the last. "The Shepherd is the Lamb". The reason for Christ's beautiful humility - in His birth and otherwise - is because God loves each and every one of us SO MUCH, that He chose to come and serve us in order to make a way for us to truly know Him. He chose to give up that which was rightfully His in order to give us what we had no rights to. And for those of us who willingly choose to follow Him, He clearly teaches us to do the same because we have chosen to be His servants, making us no greater than Him who became a servant of all.

This is a difficult thing for me; humility. But when I think of Christmas and the awesome beauty of what Christ did in humbling Himself on my behalf, I am encouraged in my inner man and desire to be like Him in his humility. I am reminded of 1st John chapter 3, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us." This GREAT LOVE, demonstrated by a life of humility that began with His humble human birth in a cow's feeding trough, inspires and instructs me to follow in His footsteps. I am encouraged to "Have this attitude in [myself] which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be held onto, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

For me, this is the true beauty of Christmas: my humble Saviour. May we recognize what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us this Christmas. May we recognize the very definition of humility in the birth, life, and death of Christ. May we have the same "mind" or "attitude" as Christ did.

That's the end of my preaching... for now.

As for the field...

The students finished up there semester at the Bible College. Most of them did very well. It's difficult to adjust to teaching in a culture where most of the students have only completed 3rd or 4th grade. I’m learning to teach "how to be a student" along with the actual teaching of each subject. I guess I can say that we are all learning!

We’re moving towards getting the church here officially registered with the government. This will take some time and money, but we hope to have it accomplished next year. We are also VERY EXCITED about the vision and plans for ministry to the youth and women. We are planning to start a monthly youth concert for the whole Kigoma area next year, and pray the Lord will bless it and provide for a way to eventually have a full-time youth center. We are also working with the women of the church - who are very poor and are often widows or have husbands who do not provide for them and the children - in order to assist them in generating an income for their families to survive. The 15 women in the group worked hard in a small garden last year and were able to sell the fruits of their labors to raise capital to buy materials for making clothes and mats and soap. We hope to assist them in generating income from these items by offering them to our friends, family, and supporters in the States in exchange for donations. We are bringing some dresses, shirts, and mats with us this winter, so if you're interested let us know.

May God richly bless you this Christmas with a closer walk with Him, in all humility and service to Him and those He desires to touch through you.

In Christ,
Jon and Carrie,
Kevan, Keenan, Caleb, & Jada

Safe and Sound and Naked in Los Angeles

We made it safely to LAX about one hour later than expected on Wednesday, December 5th. Unfortunately British Airways "misplaced" the two pieces of luggage with ALL of the kids' clothes and Carrie's clothes (except for a couple pair of shoes). So we're safe and sound and staying with my grandpa and his wife in Hawthorne. My wife and kids have a choice of wearing my clothes or going naked! Just kidding. As of now we're washing their clothes while we sleep each night and re-wearing the same clothes each day. The British Airways agent at LAX said that they cannot offer any financial help for clothing at the airport, but that we'd have to contact "Customer Relations" in New York and gave me their business card. WHAT A JOKE! Anyhow, I don't want to get fleshy and irritated again. I'm done with that. What's important is that we're here, we're safe, we have at least one set of clothes, and our family is feeding us well! I even convinced them to turn the heater on for us because, believe it or not, Southern California feels VERY COLD to us compared to Kigoma! Bwana asifiwe!